When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.

You have to shout in the kitchen to deliver the orders, to drive the troops, to get the food out. When you have a table of eight courses and everyone's having something different, you have a 15-second window to get it all together so no one at the table waits.

A lot of my reputation is a product of exaggeration and ignorance.

People do peculiar things in life and they do for whatever reason but I think one of the greatest crimes in life is when you lie.

Eating is one of the most important aspects of living. I like indulging. I like to eat one food at a time, to savor each individual thing.

I wasn't manufactured. I was cut from the cloth of the very old world of gastronomy. There was no such thing as celebrity chefs, chefs were trained and I like to think that I still represent those old values from that world and the opportunities that I am offered I often say no to.

It's extraordinary these obsessions. You conquer one but then you move onto another.